


Lima, Ohio meets Manhattan, New York

by bagosche



Category: Glee, White Collar
Genre: Cooper Anderson is Neal Caffrey, F/F, F/M, Hurt Neal Caffrey, M/M, Switching Perspectives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-03-26 16:23:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 15,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13861545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bagosche/pseuds/bagosche
Summary: When Cooper Anderson comes back to visit his brother, Blaine, he is in for a wild ride. His true identity is revealed and his relationships are tested.





	1. The Introduction

Neal Caffrey has a secret life. No one knows about said secret life except for a few people. He’d like to keep it that way as well.

Neal was born to his mom, Pam Caffrey-Bennett, and James Bennett, a cop, in St. Louis, Missouri. Neal was really born under the name Neal Bennett. When his father confessed to murder, Pam was worried that he might try to hurt her and her son, so they were moved into Witness Protection in Westerville, Ohio. Pam and Neal both changed their names and Neal decided he liked Cooper better. 

As soon as Cooper turned 17, he moved out and went to LA to be an actor. After dozens of auditions and only getting one, he turned to his other passion of art. He was never very good at making original pieces, so he turned to copying other famous paintings. When he realized that he was extraordinarily good at this, he decided to change his name, start selling them, and became the forger he is today. He changed his name to Neal Caffrey, taking his mom’s maiden name, to keep his family safe. 

Neal moved to New York at 18 and met a man named Mozzie who served as his mentor and friend. They would later work together on many cons and become fast friends.

Neal was put in a tight spot and had to run. He had previously teamed up with an FBI agent that he trusted, so he decided to call him. Peter, the agent, met up with Neal very briefly and managed to slip a bug on him. Peter now knew where Neal was going to be. So when he checked his tracking information and found out he had been visiting McKinley High School, he got suspicious. One day, he decided to surprise Neal there.


	2. The Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine finally finds out the truth about his brother's real identity and Peter finds out past information about his partner.

“Neal!” 

Peter came walking into the auditorium and saw Neal and a young man with an excessive amount of hair gel in his hair, standing on the stage. The lights were colored blue, and they looked emotional. Peter had only seen Neal like this when he arrested him while he was talking to Kate. That look only happened when Neal was talking to someone he genuinely cared about. 

“Peter? What are you doing here?” 

“Neal? Who’s Neal, Coop?” The young man finally said. 

Peter looked even more confused after that. He walked up and joined Neal and the man on stage.

“Coop? Neal, what is he talking about?” Peter asked. 

Both men looked at Neal for an explanation. 

“Peter, I will explain later. I promise. But for now, meet my little brother, Blaine Anderson. Blaine, this is Peter.” Neal explained. 

“Brother?” Peter questioned. 

“Yes. I’ll explain, but first can I have some time alone with Blaine to explain?” When Peter didn’t leave, Neal begged him. He finally left and Blaine looked more confused than ever before. 

“Take a seat, squirt.” Neal said after a sigh. 

“I told you not to call me that. What the hell just happened? Why was he calling you Neal?” Blaine asked. 

“Do you remember all those letters I used to write to you?” 

“Of course, I do. They were the only things that kept me from thinking you had forgotten me and mom, but what does that have to do with any of this?” Blaine asked frustrated.

“Do you remember Kate Moreau?” Neal asked clearly trying to bring those memories back without getting emotional.

“She’s your girlfriend, right?”

“Two years ago, she died,” Neal put his hand up to keep Blaine from intervening. “I met her when I went undercover in Vincent Adler’s company to try and steal some of his money. I know, I’m not proud of it and I’m not making excuses for it, but it happened. Then, I met Kate and everything changed. She ended up joining me on cons and we worked together for a while. I made a mistake and it cost me her. When I finally had found her, the FBI had as well. They used her to get to me and I went to prison for it. I had 3 months left on my sentence when I escaped. Peter, that was just in here, caught me...again. I made a deal with him. He would let me out of prison with a tracking anklet and I would help him catch other White Collar criminals using my resources.”

“If you’re out on a tracking anklet, then where is it?” Blaine asked, confused.

“There is an agent from D.C. and he wanted to arrest me and make me work for him. Before I walked into that trap, Peter let me know and I ran. The only reason Peter knows where I am now is because I trust him. Only 5 people know where I’m at right now. Also, I changed my name back to before we were put in WITSEC. That’s why Peter called me Neal. I also use mom’s maiden name, Caffrey, but it’s not my real, legal last name. Blaine, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” Neal apologized.

“I’ve got to get to class. I’ll see you later, well, if you don’t run away again.” 

“Blainey…”

Blaine held up a hand to stop Neal from continuing and left the auditorium. Neal sat on the edge of the stage and thought about what had just happened. After a few minutes of recapping, he headed out to Peter, got in the car and Peter didn’t even wait a second before asking for his promised explanation. 

“I told you that my dad was a dirty cop. That was never a lie. My mom got nervous and we were moved into WITSEC.”

“No wonder there was such a gap before you turned 18.”

“Exactly. 8 years later, my mom remarried and after another two years, Blaine was born. We were never really close, given the age difference.”

“So, why come back here?” Peter asked.

“I kept Mozzie watching Blaine, making sure he was okay. One day while I was in prison, Moz told me that Blaine had been beaten up pretty bad because he had come out. Apparently he had went to some Sadie Hawkins dance with another boy, and people weren’t okay with that. He ended up in the hospital and I kept Moz very close on his tail after that.” Neal explained.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Neal. So what cover did you use to visit? It had to be pretty funny.” Peter questioned, trying to lighten the conversation.

“I’m an actor.” Peter started to snicker, but Neal held up his hand to stop him, “Not a very good one either.”

“How so?” Peter asked. “How’d you convince them?”

“I said ‘First thing you’re going to want to know: Don’t go to college. It’s a waste of time. Number two: Don’t go to New York. Theater is lame and Broadway is dead.’” Neal recalled.

“Don’t go to New York? You live in New York…” 

“Yes, and I wanted Blaine, Kurt, and Rachel to stay here so they wouldn’t get wrapped up in my business.” Neal explained.

“Makes sense. Did they listen to you?” Peter asked.

“For a little while. Eventually, they all realized I was telling them complete bullshit and stopped listening to me. When I had just turned 18, I did a commercial jingle for freecreditratingtoday.com under the name Cooper Anderson and it was very popular in the Midwest. I’m not quite sure how you didn’t find it cause you researched me extensively when you were trying to find me.”

“I definitely did do that, but I wasn’t looking for a Cooper Anderson. I was looking for a Neal Caffrey. That’s why I didn’t find it.” Peter explained.

“You’re going to look it up now aren’t you?” 

“Of course, I am. I can’t miss ‘Cooper Anderson’ singing for a commercial. The only other time I’ve heard you sing was that night that you danced with June. We were trying to get intel on Ford. Right? Remember him?” Peter questioned.

Neal thought back to that night. “‘One For My Baby’ is a classic, Peter.”

Peter eventually found the commercial Neal mentioned and was very entertained. He cracked up and watched it 4 times. Peter finally stopped rewatching the commercial to ask Neal something.

“I take it Blaine wasn’t too happy to learn his brother is a con man?”

Neal sighed. “He wouldn’t even let me finish explaining. He never knew why we were in WITSEC. He knows something happened with my dad, but not the exact details. I just want him to be caught up so that he can be prepared in case something happens.” Neal explained. “I need you to promise that you aren’t going to tell Hughes or Kramer where I’m at. It’s better for everyone if I disappear. The only people that need to know are you, Diana, Jones, Elizabeth, and Mozzie” 

“I won’t, and Neal, when he’s ready, he’ll listen.” Peter said. He started up the car and they headed back to Peter’s hotel room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was all about the initial reveal of Cooper to Peter and Neal to Blaine. I really wanted to write about Peter's discovery of Cooper's commercial and I was happy with how that played out even if it was a little short lived.


	3. The Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is all about how Kurt and Blaine take to the news about Cooper/Neal.

Blaine left the auditorium and went to the choir room. He tossed his school bag down in a chair and sat down in the next available one. He leaned over and put his head in his hands, careful not to mess up his hair. Blaine needed to process everything that was explained to him. Blaine hoped that after finally getting to sing his feelings to his brother, they might be closer and they had been for a split second before Peter barged in. 

Twenty minutes later, Blaine is surprised when Kurt enters the room. 

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You said you were going to meet me out by your car and then you never showed up.” Kurt exclaimed. After no reply, Kurt looked at Blaine’s distressing figure. He knew something was up. “Did it not go well with Cooper?”

“It went well for two seconds, then my entire world flipped upside down!” Blaine shouted. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you, I’m just frustrated.” Blaine put his head back in his hands and sighed. 

Kurt cocked his head as if to ask what happened and Blaine explained, “Did I ever tell you that my mom was married to someone else before my dad?”

Kurt shook his head, “No, I don’t think so. Wait, is Cooper your half brother?”

“Yeah. I never knew the specifics, but I did know that Coop’s dad did something awful because we were moved into Witness Protection.”

“Witness Protection?” Kurt questioned.

“Yeah and here it gets even crazier. Cooper is not Coop’s name. I only just found out that his real name is Neal. He told me that his last name is Caffrey, but that it’s not his actual last name.” Blaine explained.

“Wait, Neal Caffrey? Your brother is Neal Caffrey?” Kurt looked extremely terrified while also looking amazed.

“How do you know my brother’s name?’” Blaine asked with a slightly terrified glimmer in his eyes.

Kurt didn’t want to tell Blaine this, but knew it was for his own good. “Me and Rachel were looking at the crime in New York so we could be safe when we moved there and we saw the name Neal Caffrey. He’s a criminal, Blaine.”

“Oh. No, he told me about being a criminal. He also told me that he was let out of a prison on a tracking anklet to help the FBI find other criminals like him.” Blaine clarified.

“Do you know how many crimes he’s accused of committing, though?”

“How many?” Blaine asked even though he didn’t really want to know the answer.

“Hundreds...” Kurt told him.

“Jesus. What has Coop’ gotten himself into?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always wondered how Blaine and Kurt would take this news. I like writing Blaine a bit more emotional. I feel like it gives him a greater depth.


	4. The Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is all about what Neal does about his problems given his situation. A familiar name is heard...

When they arrived, Neal went into the bathroom and splashed his face with some cold water to calm him down. He took a moment to process what all just happened, then rejoined Peter in his room. They called Diana and Jones and were talking about possible cases Peter could work on as his excuse for being there. They came to the name Sebastian Smythe. 

Neal knew it sounded so familiar. “What’s this guy wanted for?” Neal asked Diana.

“Sebastian Smythe. Let me see. Oh, Caffrey, you’re gonna love this. License forgery plus some underage drinking. Sounds like you two might get along.” Diana joked.

“Where is he now? Neal’s interest has peaked my own.” Peter said.

“Westerville, Ohio. Wait, you guys are in Ohio now aren’t you? Caffrey, what do you know?” Jones asked.

Neal hunkered down in his chair and Peter took notice. Peter knew Neal either knew this guy or had heard of him at the very least. “Thanks for the information guys. We’ll be in touch.” 

Diana took that time to throw in her own message before the call was terminated. “Caffrey, one of these days, you’re gonna have to tell us what you know!” As soon as she got that out, Peter hung up the phone.

“Alright, spill.”

Neal looked up and looked confused. “Spill what? If I know something, I’ll tell you.”

Peter knew better than to let this go. So he “gently nudged” the information out of Neal. “Well, if you elaborate, maybe I can explain everything to Blaine. He might listen to me. El would love to meet him. You and I both know that.” 

Neal sighed because he knew he wasn’t going to win that argument. “Sebastian was someone Blaine met recently. He posted on his Facebook two and a half months ago saying a guy from his old school, Dalton Academy, had been trying to split him and his boyfriend, Kurt Hummel, up. Apparently, Sebastian made Kurt and Blaine fake IDs to get into the gay bar, Scandals.” Neal explained.

“Do you think your brother would be willing to testify and provide evidence?” Peter asked. He was hoping that they could solve this before OPR was on his ass. 

“You expect me to ask my little brother, who at the moment hates me, to help us put a person that he knows in prison? Why in the world would Blaine help us?” Neal went back to his half of the room before Peter could reply. When he entered his room, he pulled out his phone to check to see if Blaine had returned any of his texts. Not surprisingly, he hadn’t. Neal was starting to miss when his brother was young and docile instead of having his own life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited to explore the White Collar team dynamic. They all are so different in their own ways and I really loved playing with that.


	5. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine and Kurt have resulted to doing their own research and Blaine is having a hard time dealing with it. Then, he gets a call.

“There really are hundreds of crimes Coop’ is suspected of! What is wrong with him? Was he not worried that our parents and I would be in danger?” Blaine started ranting about all of the worst possible scenarios that could come from having a criminal as a brother. 

After Kurt told Blaine about Cooper/Neal, they went back to Blaine’s house to do research on him. Kurt and Blaine were sitting at his desk looking at his computer. To calm him down, Kurt pulled Blaine away from it and onto his bed. They sat there talking, Blaine talking about how he could be so oblivious and Kurt giving him reasons as to why Cooper withheld this information. 

“Maybe he wanted to tell you the entire time, but didn’t so that you wouldn’t be in any danger? The only reason he told you today was because he had to.” Kurt tried to be the voice of reason behind Cooper’s actions. He knew his methods were somewhat wrong, but also in a way, a brotherly thing to do. “Maybe if you let him explain--”

“Explain what? He lied to me for 10 years. He kept me out of his life for 10 years. He doesn’t get to come back and waltz right back in.” Blaine argues.

Kurt takes this opportunity to change the subject, “Okay. It’s your decision and I respect it because I love you. Now how about we stop worrying about your brother and watch Moulin Rouge again? We fell asleep the last time and didn’t get to finish it. Where did we leave of last?”

“Satine had just met The Duke. At least that’s what I last remember.” Blaine sighed and Kurt knew that this stress over Cooper was going to do something awful to him. Kurt turned the movie on and curled up to Blaine, trying to distract him from his reality. At least they could get in some time to relax before dealing with anything else.

Just then, Blaine’s phone started ringing. Kurt sat up, allowing his boyfriend to be able to check it. Blaine turned it around to reveal an unrecognizable number. Blaine answered it assuming it was going to be Cooper, having blocked his number so that Blaine would actually answer.

“I told you Coop’. I don’t have anything to say to you.” Blaine told the phone, unaware that it was not Cooper on the other end.

“Sorry to disappoint, Blaine. This is Peter. We met briefly before Neal told me to wait in the car, remember?” Peter said, trying his hardest not to anger Blaine.

Blaine put his hand over the phone and mouthed to Kurt, It’s the FBI agent he works with! What should I do? Kurt reacts calmly and tells Blaine to just hear him out.

“Yeah, that’s when I found out that my brother had been lying to me for 10 years. I remember that quite vividly.” Blaine said with a little snark.

“Yes. I apologize that you had to deal with that. I’ve been working with Neal for quite some time now to know that he really cares about you. I’ve only ever seen him look at one other person the way he looks at you. That was Kate. As soon as I saw that look, I knew that you were someone very important to him. Now while I have your attention, Neal doesn’t know I’m making this call to you. I’d like to set up a meeting for the two of you on neutral ground to work things out. How does that sound?” Peter obviously was trying to help and Blaine took notice of that. 

Blaine reluctantly agreed and Peter asked for places they would both be comfortable and the only option Blaine could think of was The Lima Bean. Cooper used to hang out with his friends there and Blaine and Kurt met there in the mornings before they headed to school.

“Thank you, Blaine. How does 4:30 tomorrow sound to you?”

“Do I have to be there alone? Or could you and Coop’ both be there along with me and my boyfriend, Kurt?” Blaine asked. He turned around to look at Kurt’s shocked, but willing face. Kurt knew that behind his confident exterior, Blaine was emotional and Kurt knew he would need someone to stable him. 

“Of course. The more, the merrier. Thank you for agreeing to this.” Peter hung up and Blaine turned around to face Kurt. 

“This is going to be a trainwreck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved having Blaine want more people there than just him and Cooper/Neal. I'm truly loving the more sensitive side to Blaine.


	6. The Kidnapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter goes to give Neal the good news and is surprised by what he finds.

Peter knocked on Neal’s door to give him the good news. Just then, Neal’s door slides open. It had been kicked open and Neal’s room was trashed. Peter called Diana and Jones on a group line and told them to keep checking the APB that was out for anyone matching Neal’s description, but especially anywhere in Ohio. The only thing left to do is to call Blaine back and tell him that the meeting isn’t going to be possible anymore. 

“Is there something else I can help you with, Agent?” Blaine said with a hint of annoyance. Peter could hear the family resemblance.

“I’m afraid the meeting tomorrow isn’t going to work out like we had hoped.” 

There was a silence. Peter assumed that Blaine thought he would continue and when he didn’t, he said, “Has something happened to my brother?”

Peter in no way wanted to tell Blaine that Neal had been kidnapped, but he ultimately decided that there had been too many secrets floating around already. “We think he’s been kidnapped. I have contacted my team and we will do everything to find Neal.”

“Good.” Blaine said quickly, then hung up.

Peter felt awful. Not only was his friend missing, but now he knew his brother was terrified. Peter called Elizabeth to update her like he had promised. “Hey, hon.” Peter said with a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” El (as Peter called her) always knew when Peter was upset just by the way he started a conversation. 

“It’s Neal. We think he’s been kidnapped. I went to knock on his door to let him know I’d set up a meeting with his brother an-” 

“Brother? Wait, Neal has a brother?” El interrupted. 

“Apparently. I just found out earlier today. I’ll explain more later, but I can’t go to the police or FBI because Neal’s on the run and if he’s caught…”

“You can’t keep him out of prison this time.” El finished for him.

“Exactly.” Peter said.

“Well, looks like the Burke Seven are back at it again. What do you need from me, hon?” Elizabeth asked.

“Looks like it’s just the Burke Five. Neal asked specifically for his location to only be known by me, you, Mozzie, Diana, and Jones. Ask around about catering opportunities in St. Louis, Missouri. I’ll explain more later. I can’t tell you our exact location because Kramer most likely tapped our phones. I’ll have Mozzie out here soon to remove the bugs.” Peter explained. 

Elizabeth agreed and ended the call. Jones and Diana were on their way from Manhattan as well after checking the ABP. Next, Peter used Neal’s phone that was left behind to get a hold of Mozzie. 

After calling The Burke Five, Peter looked around Neal’s room to try and find clues as to who would have taken him. The only evidence he found was footprints with some dirt. He figured Mozzie would be able to tell where it came from so he took a sample and set it aside. Peter couldn’t do much without his team there, so that was all he was able to do until they arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Similarly to how I love the Klaine relationship, I also adore the Burkes. They have so much chemistry and I love getting to throw in the "hon" every now and again.


	7. The Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine is reacting to the information he got in the last chapter. He's a bit of a wreck.

Kurt sat with Blaine on his bed. He’d never seen him this distraught. He always pictured Blaine as this strong, confident guy. What he was seeing now was completely different. He saw a scared, panicked kid. It’s like he was seeing Blaine as Blaine had seen him the first time they met when Kurt was dealing with Karofsky bullying him. 

A little over a year ago, Kurt went to scope out their competition, The Warblers. He wasn’t the best spy and Wes, David, and Blaine took him aside. Kurt had thought that they were going to beat him up for spying when it actuality, they just wanted to talk to him. When Kurt asked if the rumor about Dalton Academy being an all gay school was true, they explained that they just had a zero tolerance harassment policy. “Everybody gets treated the same, no matter what they are. It’s pretty simple,” Wes had told him.

When Kurt got emotional about this, Blaine had asked Wes and David to excuse them. Kurt explained how Karofsky had made it his mission to make Kurt’s life a living hell and Blaine gave him some advice. He said, “Prejudice is just ignorance, Kurt and you have a chance right now to teach him, “ when Kurt asked him how, Blaine responded with, “Confront him! Call him out! I ran, Kurt. I didn’t stand up. I let bullies chase me away, and it is something that I really, really regret.”

This was exactly how Blaine was acting. Kurt wanted nothing more than to see him as his usual happy-go-lucky self again. He just wasn’t so sure how to do that. 

Blaine eventually had cried himself to sleep in Kurt’s arms. As he was sound asleep, Kurt moved across the room to get the FBI agent’s phone number. He entered it into his phone and made the call.

“Go for Burke.”

“Hello. Agent Peter Burke?” Kurt asked, making sure he indeed called the right number.

“Who is this?”

“This is Kurt Hummel. I’m Blaine’s boyfriend and I wanted to ask you about his brother. What do you know of his past? Do you know who would have wanted to kidnap him? I’ve never seen Blaine like he was twenty minutes ago. He was mortified. I just want to help get this thing solved as quickly as possible for his sake.”

“I appreciate that, Mr. Hummel. I have an accomplice, one might say, heading out here to test a dirt sample I found in Neal’s room. I’ll let you know when I know something more. I think it’s sweet what you’re willing to do for Blaine.” Peter told him.

Kurt turned around to look at Blaine’s peaceful, sleeping silhouette. “I’d do anything for him. He saved me from a terrifying experience. I just want to do the same in return.”

“We will be in touch, Mr. Hummel.” With that, Kurt ended the call. He decided the best thing to do was to comfort Blaine, even if he was sleeping. He called his dad, Burt, to let him know that he was staying the night with Blaine and snuggled up next to him and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having Kurt contact Peter to try and get information to keep Blaine in better spirits just made my heart happy. I love the Klaine dynamic.


	8. The Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neal finally comes to and recognizes his captor. Arguments ensue.

Neal came to with an incredible headache and tape covering his mouth. He felt the urge to yell for help, but used his better judgement and didn’t. Neal sat up and scanned his surroundings. There was green moss on the walls. He figured it was a type of industrial building. At least if he did end up getting to talk to Peter in anyway, he could try to encode that in a message. Neal reached around to see if he still had his phone, which he didn’t. If he had, he would’ve known he was dealing with an amateur. Just then, someone started speaking.

“Sebastian! I hear you. You want something done about it, let me take care of it!....I understand….No one’s going to get hurt. I promise.” 

If Neal’s insane headache and drowsiness was any indication, whoever had been talking definitely did not care much for following orders. He knew that if he pissed this stranger off too much, they weren’t going to take it easy on him. At least he knew to keep his temper under control now.

The stranger rounded the corner, and Neal remembered him from when he was in prison. His name was Mitch Tanser. He had always had it out for him. Neal didn’t know why, but he did. 

“This kid thinks he can control someone twice his age. How laughable is that?” Mitch paced the room as if he was expecting an attack out of nowhere. “Where is it?”

Neal gestured to the tape covering his mouth, implying that he couldn’t very well respond. 

Mitch understood this and ripped it off of Neal’s face making him wince in pain. “That felt good. I’ve always wanted to do that to you. Now where is it?”

Neal had no clue what Mitch was talking about. He fibbed to try and lure the name out of his captor. “It’s in the same place it’s always been.”

“Bullshit! I checked your box in Miami. The Alexandrite ring was nowhere in there. You played me and now I’m getting my payback.” Mitch said with a devilish grin. “How’s your brother doing?”

Neal tried to jump up to attack Mitch, but was pulled back by the shackles he was in. “You stay away from him. He doesn’t need this.”

“Of course not. He already has to deal with his brother being an infamous conman working with the FBI. What was your partner’s name? Peter Burke? I hear he has a family as well. Shame.” Mitch taunted Neal with his knowledge of him and his friends. He could clearly see that it was getting to Neal. “I do have someone in my sights that you might be interested in though. Someone you knew quite well. A redhead you used to date. Where does she work? Sterling Bosch?”

“No. Leave Sara out of this. She has nothing to do with this or me anymore.” Neal pleaded with Mitch. “Let her out and leave everyone else alone and I’ll tell you where the ring is.” 

“Oh, but what’s the fun in that?” Mitch joked.

“What is your deal with me? Why are you so hell bent on destroying my life?” Neal asked.

“You got everything you wanted. You got the girl, the treasure, the fame, the friends, the job, and now I’ve got you. I guess, in a way, I have all of those things now.” Mitch explained.

“I assume you’re referring to Kate and I don’t have the girl anymore. She was killed by a former boss of mine. I don’t have the treasure anymore. I had to give it up so I could keep people safe. I guess I do still have the fame, but a bit of that is gone because of my job. I am lucky to have my job and friends, but that’s because I’ve finally worked hard enough for it, that I’ve earned them. I deserve them after everything I’ve put them through.”

Mitch scoffed and said, “You don’t deserve anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I completely made up Mitch's character, but I'm really happy with how he is turning out. He's kind of an asshole and I love it.


	9. The Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Burke Five arrive and Elizabeth is tasked with talking to Blaine to try and give him peace of mind.

The next day, everyone had arrived and gathered in Peter’s hotel room. 

“Huh, this is peculiar.” 

“What is it, Mozzie?” Peter asked.

“This dirt has trace amounts of lead. This type of lead is only found near industrial buildings. What if Neal’s in an industrial building?” Mozzie inquired.

“Diana, search for any industrial buildings that might have been abandoned.” Peter directed. “Why would this person risk his life just to kidnap Neal? What’s the motive here?”

“‘Anything worth dying for is certainly worth living for’” said Mozzie.

Peter turned around and gave Mozzie a concerned, confused look. Mozzie was always saying lines from literature that no one else knew.

“Joseph Heller, Catch-22. Suit, you really need to catch up on your books.” scolded Mozzie. 

“Yeah. I’ll get right on that, Mozzie. I’ll put saving Neal’s life on hold to read Catch-22.” Peter reprimanded. 

“Guys, can we focus? Caffrey is depending on us. Now, we need to focus on finding him.” Jones said.

“Jones is right. No more distractions.” Peter says while throwing obvious glances to the only major literary buff in the room. 

Peter, Diana, Jones, Mozzie, and Elizabeth spend the next 3 hours trying to pinpoint Neal’s location, when Peter’s phone starts to ring. He figures it’ll be someone like Kramer or Hughes, but he’s in for a surprise.

“Blaine. I wasn’t expecting a call from you. It’s almost 9 AM.” Peter commented with surprise.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night. I was wondering if you had any information on my brother and where he might be. It would be really helpful if there was, at least, something you could tell me.”

Peter could hear the desperation in Blaine’s voice. He told him the only lead they had thus far. “We found a sample of dirt in Neal’s room and I had a friend of your brother’s run some tests on it. It has trace amounts of lead in it. We believe he may be in some abandoned industrial building nearby. We’re searching anywhere in a 25 mile radius. We’re going to find him, Blaine.”

“I know. If Coop’ trusts you guys, so do I. I’ll talk to you later, Agent Burke.” Blaine ended the call and Peter turned around to see Elizabeth standing in the doorway. Apparently, Peter had wandered out of the room while on the phone and El had followed him.

“I take it that was Neal’s brother?” El inquired.

“Yeah. He’s terrified, El. I don’t know how to calm him down or keep him from worrying. He only just found out about Neal being a conman yesterday and all of a sudden, he’s kidnapped.” complained Peter.

“How about you let me talk to him? You know I’m dying to met this little brother of his and I might be able to give him peace of mind.”

“You’d do that?” Peter asked with a smile.

“I would, hon.”

Peter texted Blaine and asked for his address. When he received it, El headed over. She still couldn’t believe that Neal had a little brother. She wondered if she would be able to notice the family resemblance right away, or if it would take a little while. Elizabeth finally arrived and knocked on the door. When the door opens, El is greeted by a handsome young man with dark brown, gelled down hair. She notices the resemblance almost immediately. If it weren’t for the face, she’d be able to tell by the outfit choice. Neal always looks so sophisticated in his suits and she notices the same with Blaine. He’s wearing a plain button up shirt with a striped vest and a nice bowtie. 

“You must be Blaine. It’s wonderful to meet you.” Elizabeth greets him. 

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you. Please come in.” Blaine opens the door wider to allow El inside and she notices he has company. “I hope you don’t mind. I invited my boyfriend to join us.”

“Oh no, of course not!” Elizabeth shakes hands with the boyfriend when he introduces himself as Kurt Hummel.

Blaine asks the room, in general, if anyone wanted anything to drink. When he returns with the beverages, Kurt and Elizabeth are chatting about Vogue’s newest magazine. “I hate to interrupt, but I was wondering what exactly you’re doing here. Not to be rude, of course.” Blaine says apologetically. 

“Right. Peter Burke is my husband and we thought that maybe I could help give you peace of mind with the current situation. I know this must be hard for you,” El looks at Kurt. “For both of you.”

“Yes, it’s definitely something.” Blaine replies distantly.

“I have known Neal for 4 years. In all that time, I’ve gotten to know that he is very resourceful. Where ever he is, he knows how to control the situation to his advantage. I’m sure of it. He’s also very intelligent. I’ve seen him in action on many occasions. There was a time where Peter was kidnapped. Peter managed to knock out his captor and get his phone and called Neal. Your brother talked my husband through hacking a system to unlock the cell he was trapped in.” 

“Really? Coop’ helped save his life?” Blaine asked in awe.

Elizabeth smiled. “Really. Now, tell me more about you. Neal never mentioned you, I assume to keep you safe.”

“I told you…” Kurt chimed in.

“Well, me and Cooper were never that close. I mean, we’re ten years apart in age. It also didn’t help that I’m gay and he’s straight. Those qualities alone kept us from bonding and being as close as I wish we were. After Cooper left, I went to a Sadie Hawkins dance an--”

“Blaine. You don’t have to talk about this if you feel that you can’t.” Kurt told him.

“It’s okay. I’m stronger now because of it. Hell, I helped you with Karofsky.”

Kurt smiled and gestured for Blaine to continue.

“So, I had just come out to my friends and family before this dance. I went with the only other openly gay guy at my school. People didn’t take to it lightly. After the dance, me and him were waiting for our ride when these guys attacked us. We both ended up with pretty bad injuries and in the hospital. So I transferred schools. I was terrified. I just wanted to come running to him and rant about everything, but he wasn’t there. Of course, up until know, I assumed Coop’ didn’t know any of this. I’m still not sure that he knows about that part. I never got the chance to ask him.” Blaine says.

Elizabeth, noticing him getting emotional, puts her hand on Blaine’s knee to show that she understands. 

“Then, a year later, my dad started asking me to help him fix up some cars. At first, it just seemed like a father-son bonding type deal. Over time, I realized what his alterior motive was. He was hoping that by getting my hands dirty, it would make me straight. I eventually started making excuses up to save me from having to do that and soon enough, he just gave up.”

“I appreciate you trusting me with this, Blaine. It’s truly devastating what you’ve had to go through to get to where you are now. You are truly an inspiration.” El tells Blaine.

Blaine blushes and they continue talking and sharing stories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited to explore the dynamic between Elizabeth and Blaine. I knew from White Collar that if this were to happen, El would be the first to want to meet Blaine. I also really loved having Mozzie quoting literature, like he does.


	10. The Unveiling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine unveils Cooper's real identity to the Glee Club.

It had been a day since Blaine and Kurt had had the pleasure of speaking with Mrs. Burke. Blaine had regained some composure over himself, at least enough to go to school. Blaine went through his day as usual. Stopping only to think of the worst possible scenarios his brother might possibly be in. Kurt could tell when he was doing this and always managed to save him and tell help push away these awful thoughts. He made it to Glee rehearsal before Mr. Schuester, their director, had arrived. Everyone in Glee Club managed to speak with him.

“I’m really sorry about your brother, Blaine. If I weren’t so busy practicing for my solos for Nationals, I would totally help look for him.” Rachel said.

“Uh, thanks, Rachel.”

“Britt and I wanted to say that we feel awful that your way more attractive brother is missing. We hope he shows up” Santana told him.

“Are you sure he didn’t just get lost in his room? I do that all the time…” Brittany remarked.

“Yes, Britt. I’m sure, but thanks anyway, I guess.”

Quinn was the next to say something. She rolled up to Blaine in her wheelchair, followed by Joe, “My accident has made me a lot wiser and I wanted to tell you that your brother is going to return. I know it.”

“Thanks, Quinn.”

“Dude, your brother was totally epic. Deciding to eat a roast beef sandwich before an acting job was genius. I hope he comes back.” Puck said in awe.

Artie rolled up in his wheelchair to Blaine, “I know that after my accident when I was 8, I thought my life would never be the same. While it’s altered, I got back my strength. You will too.”

“I appreciate that, Artie.” Blaine replied. Why had it been both of the people in accidents giving the best condolence speeches?

“Hey, Blaine. I know no one can say much to keep you from worrying, but if you need someone to talk to, you have my number. I’m singing at my churches service tomorrow if that would help you.

“Thanks, Mercedes, but I don’t feel very up to it. Thank you for the offer though. It means a lot.” Blaine had told her.

“Hi, Blainey Days. I’m really sorry to hear about Cooper. If you need a distraction, hit me up.” Tina says with a wink.

Mike looks quizzically at Tina, then pats Blaine on the back and the two of them sit down.

“Uh, thanks?” Blaine says confusedly.

Kurt gave Tina a little glare for hitting on his man.

Lastly was Sugar and Rory. “I know your extremely handsome brother is out there somewhere…” Sugar tells Blaine. 

Next, Rory comments, “I only got one picture with Cooper, but he’ll show up eventually.” With that, Rory patted him on the back and sat down.

“Thanks, you guys.”

Mr. Schuester enters the choir room and starts his rehearsal, “While I know this tragedy with Blaine’s brother is deeply upsetting to us all, we will continue with our lesson like normal. I--”

“Mr. Schue? Can I say something?” Blaine asks politely.

“Yeah, sure.”

Blaine walks up to the front of the classroom as he gets ready to make his piece. His eyes meet Kurt’s and they share a moment. Kurt knows how hard this is on Blaine and he urges him to tell them the truth for their safety. “First, I wanted to thank all of you for your well wishes, even if some of them were a little odd. I need to tell you all something. I only just found this out a day ago and I need you all to know for your safety. My brother isn’t who you think he is, who I thought he was.” Blaine struggles to go on and looks to Kurt. Kurt winks at him as reassurance and he continues. “My brother isn’t Cooper Anderson. He’s Neal Caffrey, the infamous conman from New York.

The classroom erupts with confusion. Everyone wants to know exactly how this is possible and why they had let a conman into their classroom. 

Blaine manages to quiet them down so he can explain. “My brother went to prison 8 years ago and escaped with 3 months left. Long story short, he was caught again by an Agent Peter Burke, the same man who previously caught him. He ended up being released on a tracking anklet to help the FBI find other criminals like him. Recently, he ran into some trouble with a higher up agent who threatened to send him to prison again, or he could go work for him in DC. Agent Burke gave Coop’ a heads up and he ran. He ran here. Yesterday though, came the news that my brother had been kidnapped. He’s not just missing.” Blaine took a deep breathe to compose himself. He had been practicing that in his head all day long. 

“The reason I have to tell all of you this is because if anyone besides us, Agent Burke, his wife, Agent Berrigan, Agent Jones, and Coop’s friend, Mozzie find out where he is. They will lock him up indefinitely. Mr. Schue, I know this goes against everything you’ve been told to do, but if there’s any chance of my brother coming home, it’s worth it.”

Will sits and thinks for a moment. The anticipation of waiting for his response starts to kill Blaine inside. He doesn’t know just quite where to draw the line. “The only person I have to tell is Ms. Pillsbury. I’ll make sure she doesn’t reveal anything to anyone else, but in case you need to see her because of this, she needs to know what’s going on.”

“Ok. I can work with that. The one person we really can’t have knowing this is Coach Sylvester. She seemed kind of attracted to my brother, however terrifying that may be, but I still think she’d reveal everything to anyone willing to listen. Do we have a deal?” Blaine looked around the classroom. Some faces were sceptical and some looked willing.

Eventually everyone said in unison, “Deal!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little difficult to write. Coming up with things that the Glee Club members would say that would match their characters and their story arcs at the time of this episode of Glee was something that I had to be careful with. That said, I hope you enjoyed!


	11. The Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neal takes Mitch to retrieve the ring, but Neal plants something to save both him and June.

“Look, I don’t have the ring anymore, Mitch!” Neal lied straight through his teeth.

“Well, why the hell not?” Mitch yelled. After realizing he yelled, he checked around to make sure no one heard him.

Neal hesitated his answer. He didn’t want anyone to get into any more danger. He mentioned the one person he knew could take care of herself and understand the most precarious situations. “I gave it to my landlady as a present. I can get it back from her if you let me.” Neal said.

Mitch started cracking up laughing. He laughed so long, Neal became a little uncomfortable. “You really think I’m going to let you leave? That’s hilarious!” All of a sudden, Mitch punched Neal across the face with enough force to move a mountain.

Once Neal regained his composure, he sat back up, confident as ever. “If you let me get the ring back for you, you can have it and let me go. You know you don’t want to spend any more time with me than you have too.”

Neal could see that his words had taken some affect. Mitch was clearly considering his offer. “Fine, but if you pull anything and I mean anything, I will kill you.”

Mitch unshackled Neal cautiously. As soon as Neal was free, Mitch pulled a gun from the back band of his shredded jeans and pointed it at Neal, “I mean it. I will kill you.”

Neal put up his hands slowly, he knew that Peter, Diana, Jones, Mozzie, and Elizabeth were working hard to find him. He had to believe it because if not, he was about to give a psycho a $15.7m ring. Mitch pointed out where to go with his gun and Neal followed reluctantly. They came to a 2007 Chevrolet Malibu. Neal couldn’t believe this guy was still driving a 2007, it was 2012 after all. 

Mitch made Neal get in the back and lay down, so no one could spot him. Neal’s landlady, June Ellington, was staying with her sister in Westerville at the time, so that’s where they were headed. Neal got out and went up to the front door where he greeted June. She greeted him with a hug to get a look at his captor, so when Peter eventually came to talk to her, she could describe this man. June took Neal inside and a little later to avoid suspicion, Mitch followed. 

Mitch went into the living room with the two of them and pulled his gun back out. First, he pointed it at Neal, but then moved it to point at June. “Give me the ring, Caffrey!” 

June held up her hands, but wasn’t as worried as someone who had never had a gun pointed at them would be. June’s late husband, Byron, had been a criminal so she had seen it all just about. Luckily, June’s sister, Mia, had left the house to meet with some friends. 

Neal left the room to grab the ring. While, Neal had been talking to Peter in the car, he plucked a bug off of him in case anything like this would happen. Neal grabbed the ring and returned to the living room to plant the bug in there. Neal turned it on quickly and set it on the window ledge, out of sight of Mitch. “Here’s the ring. You have to be extremely careful with it. You do realize this ring is 20.82 carats and costs $15.7 million, right? There’s no way you can sell that thing without getting caught.” Neal said, hoping Peter was listening through the bug.

Mitch waved his gun at June and told Neal, “I have a gun pointed at your landlady! Do you really want to stall me right now?” Neal handed over the ring and while doing so, Mitch grabbed his wrist. “You’re coming back with me.”

“Hey, that was not the deal. We said that I’d give you the ring and you’d let me go!” Neal said, upset that he was going back on their deal.

“Well, things have changed. You stalled me and now I’m out of time, so either you come back with me or I kill your friends here. Your choice.” Mitch argued.

Neal looked over to June who, in return, winked at him implying she had a plan. June had obviously seen Neal set the bug down and she knew it was working. Neal decided to try and stall some more to buy Peter and the crew more time. “Mitch, listen to me. You know you don’t want to hurt anybody except me and that you don’t want to spend any longer with me than you have to. Let’s make a deal. You put the gun down and walk out of here with the ring before Peter finds me, and you know he will, or you don’t and have the FBI arrest you and put your ass back in prison. It’s your choice.”

Mitch, obviously very conflicted and frustrated, sighed and lowered his gun. “Damn you, Caffrey.” 

Mitch turned and pointed the gun back at Neal. Neal put his hands up and tried to talk down Tanser. “You’re not doing yourself any favors here. If you kill me, the FBI will put all of their resources on finding you. You’ll have maybe a week at the most before you’re back in prison. Just walk away and we’ll call it even.”

Mitch stared at Neal intensely for a couple minutes, considering what he had just said. Finally, he pointed the gun squarely at Neal and started backing away. Swapping his aim between Neal and June, he left the house. The door opened and Neal watched Mitch exit June’s building. Neal expected to hear Peter reading off Miranda Rights and when he didn’t, he checked outside. Mitch was nowhere to be found and Peter and the rest of the small team were just now pulling up.

“Where’d he go? He was just here!” Neal scanned the street, paying no attention to Peter.

Peter realized the fact that Mitch had alluded them and knew they’d get him eventually. He decided to celebrate what he could at the time being. “You know, Mozzie would quote something about the small wins.

Neal, still very distressed remarked, “He was just here!”

“Neal, we’ll find him. We always do. Plus, you’ve got some people who have really missed you.” Peter gestured for Neal to follow him. They walk out of June’s sister’s house and Neal spots some more familiar face. Neal get a hug from Diana, a pat on the back from Jones, a half hug from Mozzie, and a kiss on the cheek from Elizabeth. 

“We have one more stop to make. It’s the most important.” 

“I know exactly where we’re going, Peter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was super fun for me because I got to play around with June's character, which I hadn't gotten to do previously. I also loved getting pretty deep with Mitch.


	12. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neal and Peter are finally reunited with Blaine and Kurt. Neal may have some interesting information for Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter forgetting that I had had Peter arrest Mitch in the last one. I decided I liked this arrest better than the one in Chapter 10. I recommend re reading Chapter 10 because I changed it. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Blaine is sitting on his couch cuddling with Kurt. Kurt has been with Blaine through this whole mess and he really loves and appreciates him for it. “You know I love you, right?”

Kurt sits up, glancing over Blaine to try and see what caused that random, but sweet sentiment. “Of course, I know that. I’m so glad to get to help you through this. I know it hasn’t been easy for you, but you’ve been so strong.”

“Strong? What do you call all those times where I broke down crying to you? That was not strength, that was weakness.” Blaine sheepishly tells Kurt.

“What do you mean? It takes strength to be real and emotional with people. Weakness is bottling things up until they just explode. You are way stronger then you give yourself credit for.” Kurt smiles at Blaine. Blaine snuggles up to him and dozes off. Kurt follows suit soon after.

A knock on the door startles them awake. Groggily, Blaine gets up to open the door. “Hello?” Because of Blaine’s grogginess, he can’t clearly see the two men at his door.

“Hey Blainey. You alright?” A very familiar voice greets. 

The voice shocks Blaine fully awake. He’s paralyzed with shock and excitement, when Kurt asks from the living room, “Blaine? Who is it? What’s going on?”

The only response Blaine can give is a hand gesturing for Kurt to come over and see for himself. Kurt gets up from the couch after much effort and he looks out the door. “Cooper… I mean Neal! You’re back!” 

Blaine finally composes himself and lets Peter and Neal inside. Once Blaine shuts the door behind them, he launches into a hug with Neal. “I was so terrified at what might’ve happened to you. Please, don’t ever do that again.” Blaine begs.

“Well, I definitely didn’t do it on purpose,” Neal looks to Peter who’s giving him a stern look, “But I’ll try to not let it happen again.”

Blaine finally releases Neal and Neal gives Kurt a hug next. He tells Kurt quietly, “Thanks for keeping an eye on him for me. He doesn’t tend to like to show his emotional side.”

Kurt smiles at Neal and nods, saying, “My pleasure.”

“Now, back to the original problem. Do you know who kidnapped you, Neal?” Peter asked.

Neal sighed and went to sit down on the couch. “I do actually. His name’s Mitch Tanser. We were in prison at the same time and for reasons I never knew, he had it out for me. Lo and behold, he told me while he had me locked up. He said it was because I had gotten everything I wanted.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Got everything you wanted? What does that mean?”

“He said something about how I got Kate, the Nazi treasure, friends, the job, and fame. Then I proved him wrong by saying that Kate had been killed, I had given you the treasure, I had gotten friends because I had changed, the job because I made a deal with you and you took a chance on me, and the fame was because I’m just that good.” Neal smiled his signature weak-at-the-knees smile. That went away as soon as Neal saw the stern look on Peter’s face.

Neal was about to say something else when Blaine interrupted. “Kurt, why does the name Mitch Tanser sound so familiar?”

Kurt thought about it and couldn’t place anything, “I don’t know. Maybe he’s a family member of a someone in glee club?”

As soon as Kurt said that, Blaine’s face lit up. “That’s it! He’s Sebastian’s cousin! I remember him talking about him before he blinded me with that slushee!”

“Wait, what? You said he only tried to break you guys up!” Neal got up to do God knows what before Blaine stopped him. 

“Coop’, he tried to throw a slushee filled with rock salt at Kurt and I saw and I jumped in front of him. At the time, I didn’t know that it had rock salt, but I still did it.” Blaine explained.

Peter was the next one to speak, “Blaine, are you talking about Sebastian Smythe?” Blaine nods and Peter looks to Neal, “Are you going to ask or do I have to?”

Neal sighed, sat back down, and Blaine looked very confused. “Ask what?”

“Sebastian’s name showed up on a list of possible White Collar criminals. Apparently he had been wanted for forged IDs. When I saw that, I remembered you writing me, saying that he had gotten you two some fake IDs to enter a gay bar. When I told Peter that, he asked me to ask you if you’d be willing to testify against him. At the time, I refused to ask you because you were angry at me, but now that you’re not…” Neal let Blaine assume the rest of the question.

“You want me to be responsible for Sebastian going to prison? I can’t do that. He changed last week. He became a whole new person. He apologized to me for the slushee. I told him his apology meant nothing to me, but that wasn’t entirely true. I promise you, he’s not someone you have to go after.” Blaine looked at Kurt who was looking at him oddly, “Not anymore at least.” Blaine corrected himself.

“Blaine, I have something to tell you. When Mitch had me, he was talking to Sebastian on the phone. He told him ‘No one’s going to get hurt. I promise.’ I don’t think he’s as innocent as he wants you to think. I’m sorry, squirt.” Neal told him.

Blaine contemplated what to say next. “Let me talk to him. I need to find out what’s going on with him. As much as I hate him for what he did to us and the Glee Club, I refuse to accept that he’d get his cousin to kidnap you.”

“Alright, fine. So how do we go about catching Tanser, Neal?” Peter asked.

“Fortunately, he was so blindsighted by this greed for the Bulgari ring, he didn’t bother to blindfold me. I saw where he was hiding out. Whether or not he’s still there, that’s the 15.7 million dollar question.” Neal explained.

Peter was still hung up on the beginning of the explanation. “A Bulgari ring? That’s 20.82 carats and 15.7 million dollars. Please tell me you did not steal something that expensive and then gave it to a kidnapper.”

Neal turned to look at Blaine who was reciprocating the look a little more expectantly. Neal returned his glance to Peter and said, “You don’t want me to answer that. What I can tell you was that the building he was holding me in was at 594 Harvey Lane.”

Alright then. Let’s start there.”


	13. The Texts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine uses the time in the car to talk to Sebastian and ask about his cousin.

Blaine knew he had to get down to the facts concerning Sebastian. He had Kurt drive their car to where Neal was being held so that he could text Sebastian to find out.

B) Hey Sebastian. I need to talk to you.

S) Finally come to your senses? Was Kurt getting a little to boring for you? I understand.

B) Forget it, Sebastian. Your Smythe charms aren’t going to work. Especially after the little stunt you pulled during Michael week.

S) I already told you I’m sorry. What more do you want from me, Anderson?

B) I’m glad you said that. Do you remember when you told me about your cousin, Mitch Tanser?

S) Yeah, I guess so. Why are we talking about him now though?

B) He kidnapped my brother. Cooper heard him talking to you when he was holding him. He also knows about the fake IDs you made us.

S) First off, I didn’t make those IDs. I bought them from someone off the street. Secondly, Mitch would never kidnap anyone. You don’t even have proof.

B) So my own brother’s witnessing of this isn’t enough for you?

S) Fine. You said your brother heard Mitch talking to me? What did he say?

Blaine exited Sebastian’s texts and asked his brother what Mitch had said. When Neal replied, Blaine texted Sebastian back the answer to his question.

B) My brother told me he said, “Sebastian! I hear you. You want something done about it, let me take care of it!....I understand….No one’s going to get hurt. I promise.” Understand my intrigue now?

S) Holy shit...I never in a million years would have thought that he could do something like that. I was just talking to him about when I came out to my friends. One of them wasn’t cool with it and threatened me. I had never told him about it before because I was afraid to. I told him that I wanted Michael to pay, but I didn’t mean it. I thought he was just going along with some weird joke. I hope he doesn’t actually do anything. Shit. Look what you’ve done, Anderson! Now I have to go check on my cousin. 

B) You swear you’re telling me the truth? My brother’s life still kind of depends on it.

S) Considering the only people I’ve told about that are you and Mitch, I think you can trust me. This time at least. After all, I did turn over a new leaf last time we talked.

B) Alright, fine. I’ll take your word for it. Do me a favor though. Pretend this conversation never happened.

S) Why would I have to do that?

B) I guess you just have to trust me now.

Sebastian didn’t have a reply to that one. Blaine finally looked up from his phone and saw that they were pulling up to 594 Harvey Lane. He was unnerved to see what was hidden behind those walls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked playing with Sebastian still hitting on Blaine after everything that's happened between the two of them. That was entertaining.


	14. The Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking place the same time as the last chapter, Neal tells Peter how he got the ring in question.

Neal got in Peter’s car after their heart-to-heart at Blaine’s house. Peter couldn’t help but wonder how Neal got his hands on a 15.7 million dollar ring.

“How exactly did you come across that Bulgari ring?” Peter asked, not so subtly.

“I told you you didn’t want me to answer that. Unless, of course, you’re giving me full immunity while we’re in this car.” Neal suggested.

“I assume you’re referring to when you told me all about Adler and Kate on your terrace until the sun rose?” Peter recalled.

“Exactly. If that’s what we’re talking about here, then I’ll spill.”

“You’ve got until we get to Harvey Lane. Now spill.” Peter told him.

“Alright. I was at a Christies Jewel Auction where I spotted the Bulgari Blue Diamond Ring. It was insane. It had the most beautiful, and expensive, triangular-shaped blue diamond and a colorless one as well. The blue diamond was 10.95 carats while the colorless one was 9.87. Its bid started at 5 million and got up to 15.7 million at the end.” 

Neal seemed to get sucked into his phone for a moment. “Sorry, Blaine texted me and asked about what Mitch said about Sebastian when he had me. Anyways back to the story.

“After Mozzie was shot by Larson, I was angry and needed to blow off some steam. So I decided to find the person who had bought the ring and I conned it off of him. I didn’t know what to do with it for a long while. Then, I realized that June’s birthday was coming up. I decided that she’d been so gracious to me, letting me stay in her guest room for so long, so I gave it to her. 

“When Tanser took me to June’s sister’s house, I had already found the bug you had placed on me. I went into June’s closet to grab the ring and messed with the bug until it started working. That’s when you showed up so you know the rest.”

“Lucky for you, we’re here. You’re saved from my other questions,” Peter looked intently at Neal. “For now, anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it was really interesting having this chapter and the last one taking place at the same time and connecting them with Blaine texting Neal.


	15. The Capture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitch is finally caught by Peter and Neal, but someone becomes part collateral damage. Who will it be?

Neal and Peter got out of their car while Kurt and Blaine got out of theirs. Peter and Neal called Diana and Jones, told them to head their way as backup, and told Blaine and Kurt to stay behind, obviously they didn’t. They waited until Neal and Peter were further ahead and then started following them. Peter equipped his gun and Neal followed behind him. They entered the abandoned building and spotted Mitch packing up all of his things.

“Mitch Tanser! Drop your weapon and put your hands behind your back!” Peter called out from the doorway.

As soon as Mitch heard this, he shot towards the voice he heard. Peter ducked behind a large support beam and Neal followed suit. Blaine and Kurt were caught off guard and Mitch took another shot in their direction, grazing Blaine’s arm. He yelled out in pain.

“Blaine!” Neal yelled. He spotted Kurt and told him, “Get him out of here! Wrap the wound and apply pressure, now!”

Kurt helped him out of the building. The two of them got in Blaine’s car and cleaned Blaine up using whatever they could find in his sloppily put together first aid kid. 

Meanwhile, Peter and Neal were trying to talk down Mitch, to no avail. Neal looked at Peter, as if telling him that the only way they were going to get him to stop shooting at them was if they used their Plan B. Peter agreed and they started their plan.

Neal was the first to initiate the plan. “Mitch, listen to us. We know about your cousin.”

The shots slowed. “What are you talking about? I have tons of cousins. You’re gonna have to be more specific than that, Caffrey. Either get to explaining or do me a favor and just jump in front of a bullet.”

Neal took offense to this, but knew that if he kept going, they’d get him behind bars. “Sebastian Smythe is who I’m talking about. We know that he’s been doing some bad things as of late including using fake IDs and drinking underage. I know people with evidence and I can get them to testify with us. That is unless-” Neal was cut off by Mitch.

“Unless what? He’s a good kid. You can’t do that to him. He’s already been through enough as is!” Mitch yelled. The shots all but stopped except for the occasional annoyance ones. 

Neal raised his hands and stepped out from behind the beam, against Peter’s wishes. “I know he’s not a bad kid, but have you seen the decision’s he’s been making lately? He tried to break up my brother and his boyfriend, he constantly calls people names, and he even threw a slushee at my brother that was filled with rock salt! Blaine had to have surgery because the salt scratched his cornea. Is it possible that having you kidnapping people and stealing has him making bad decisions?”

Neal knew that saying some of the stuff he was saying was risky given Mitch’s demeanor. As long as Neal made sure he was able to read Mitch’s body language, if he tried to shoot at Neal, he should be able to move out of the way fast enough. Neal started to realize that Mitch seemed to be slowly falling apart. He was processing each of the instances Neal had just mentioned and was seeing how his attitude had affected and influenced them. Soon enough, he dropped his gun and dropped to his knees. 

“It’s all my fault. If I never would have left, he wouldn’t be like this.” Mitch cried out.

Peter slowly approached the distressed criminal, gun still drawn. He worked his way around him, watching for any possible sudden movements. He put his gun away and grabbed out his handcuffs and clicked them shut. Peter grabbed Mitch’s arm, pulled him up and took him out to Diana and Jones who had arrived during the whole fiasco. 

As soon as Mitch was secured in the back of the car, Neal went over to check on Blaine. “What the hell were you thinking? You could’ve been killed! I told you to stay right here and you ignored me!” Neal glaces back and forth between Kurt and Blaine, “Both of you did! Kurt, how could you let him do something like that? I thought you said you’d look out for him for me!”

Blaine knew his brother well enough to know that this was just his anger and fear talking. He knew he wouldn’t want to show that fact in front of Kurt, so he pulled him off to the side before Kurt could reply.

“Look, I know you’re angry with me, and I know you were scared that I’d get even more hurt than I did. I also know though, that if Peter would have told you to stay behind, you wouldn’t have listened.” Blaine explained.

Still frustrated, Neal practically yelled, “You’re supposed to be smarter than me, Blaine! You’ve always been the smarter, more reasonable one. If anyone should have known not to do something like that, it’d be you.”

Blaine knew he had made Neal scared and he felt awful about it. He decided not to push him any further given what he’s been though here lately. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Mind helping patch me up? It’ll be just like old times.”

Neal let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding and smiled at his little brother. “Sure, just like old times.” 

The two brothers headed back to their respective cars and headed to Blaine’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt that having either Blaine or Kurt get injured during this was pretty important. Obviously, Blaine didn't get seriously injured, but still.


	16. The Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neal, Peter, Kurt, and Blaine finally return home. Two of them have a heart-to-heart conversation, and two of them grace the others with a performance.

Neal told Blaine when they got home, that he’d help him stitch up, so they went up to the bathroom leaving Peter and Kurt alone.

“So, Cooper isn’t really an actor, huh?” Kurt said, trying to make small talk.

“Definitely not. He is however a convicted felon.” Peter answered.

“Why did he keep the truth from Blaine for so long? Wouldn’t it have been safer for him if he knew so that he could protect himself?” Kurt asked, clearly terrified for Blaine’s safety. Kurt sat down on the couch and was lost in thought. No doubt thinking of worst case scenarios that could’ve come from him not knowing.

Peter took a seat next to Kurt and said, “Look, I’ve known Neal for nearly 6 years. Granted those first three, I was trying to catch him. While working with him though, I’ve learned that he’s willing to do anything for the people he loves. When I first met Blaine, I had just entered your school’s auditorium and saw them on the stage. These blue lights lit up the stage.”

“That’s how most people in Glee Club deal with things. We sing our feelings and make a big showcase of it with a band and lights. Have you ever heard ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’? I think that’s the song they were singing.” Kurt explained.

Peter laughed and continued, “First off, I would have loved to see Neal singing again. Anyway, I didn’t even have to think for a second when I saw the way Neal was looking at Blaine. Neal was involved with a girl, Kate, when I caught him. My team and I had found her location and made it so she would visit this art storage box. We leaked her location, so that Neal would come find her. When I entered to arrest him, the first thing I noticed was the way he looked at her. You could just tell he loved her and would’ve done anything for her. When I entered your auditorium, I saw the exact same look from him.”

“What’s his deal, though? What happened with his dad?” Kurt asked concerned.

“I couldn’t tell you. Neal’s very specific with who he trusts. He can even trust you and not tell you everything. Neal trusts Mozzie more than anyone I know and he still doesn’t always tell him the whole truth. It’s annoying, I’ll give you that, but you always know if he trusts you by how much he tells you.” Peter explained.

“Do you think he’ll ever tell Blaine the truth?”

Peter thought about this for a hot minute. “I hope so.”

Just after Peter said this, Neal and Blaine came down the stairs. 

“I’m just saying, you did sound a little pitchy on Rio. I did sound better. You can’t deny that.” Neal said to Blaine.

“Bullshit! I was not pitchy on Rio! In fact, you sounded pitchy on Hungry Like The Wolf!” Blaine retorted.

“Great comeback, Blaine.” Neal replied with an eyeroll.

“What are you guys talking about? You sound crazy.” Peter asked, very confused.

Blaine, Kurt, and Neal all started laughing. After the laughter subsided, Kurt said, “Peter, you said you wanted to hear Cooper sing again,” Kurt looked over at the two brothers, “Feel like performing Hungry Like The Wolf / Rio again?”

Blaine looked to Neal and Neal looked Blaine. “I’m down if you are.” Blaine said.

Neal looked to Peter who looked very confused and even slightly concerned. “What the hell. Let’s do it.”

Blaine pulled up the track on his phone and started singing. Peter realized what was happening and looked like he could crack up laughing any second. 

Neal started singing his part and Peter sat in awe. He had heard him and June sing “One For My Baby”, but this song was something different entirely. He noticed that Neal looked like he was genuinely having a lot of fun.

The two brothers started singing together and Peter realized that their voices blended perfectly. The dance break was Peter’s favorite part. This was the first time he’d ever seen Neal dance and he was really good. He had a different style than Blaine. Neal’s dancing was a bit more smooth, whereas Blaine’s dancing was a little more sharp and direct.

The part that blew Peter away the most was when Neal hit his crazy note at the end of the song. He knew Neal was good, but he didn’t know he was capable of that.

Finally, the song ended and Peter and Kurt both broke out into crazy applause. “You know, El would love to see that, Neal.” Peter suggested.

“Forget it. I only did it for my brother and Kurt. No one else needs to see that.” Neal said.

Blaine started laughing and Kurt tapped Peter’s arm. “Don’t worry. I recorded the whole thing on my phone.” Kurt laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favorite songs from Glee was definitely Hungry Like The Wolf / Rio, so writing about Peter witnessing their performance was important for me personally and I hope others will enjoy it.


	17. The Recap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Neal tells Blaine about everything that's happened with his father and with Peter.

Peter headed back to his hotel room to gather his stuff and Kurt got called home by his dad. Neal and Blaine were the only ones left. Their mom, Pam, had come home to find her boys laughing on the couch.

“You know, I miss this. I miss seeing you two getting along.” She said when she saw them. She gave each of her boys hugs and then, went to bed.

“Do you think you could tell me about your dad? You tried to before and I wasn’t ready, but now I think I am.” Blaine started.

“Yeah. My dad was James Bennett. That’s why my real name is Neal Bennett, not Caffrey. My dad was a cop and he had a partner, Kathryn Hill. They took down tons of criminals and one day he tried to steal some money from a crime scene. His superior officer caught him and blackmailed him into warning criminals before the police showed up so they could never catch them. 

“One day, he ran into his superior in a parking garage and he killed him. Kathryn had arrived to see my dad holding a gun standing over the body and she arrested him. 

“That’s when Mom, Kathryn, and I were put into Witness Protection. Mom’s name was changed to Diane Brooks. I was Danny Brooks, and Kathryn became Ellen Parker. When mom married your dad, she went back to her real first name and took your dad’s last name. I prefered Cooper and to be safe, I took your dad’s last name as well. When I turned 18, Ellen told me about my dad. That’s when I became what I am today.” Neal explained.

Blaine took a minute to process all of this information. When he finally got everything down, he said, “Wow. I had no idea how crazy your life’s been so far.”

“Well, it hasn’t all been bad, mostly, but not all. The first year I helped Peter, I snuck around behind his back to try and find Kate. Me and Mozzie learned that an FBI agent had kidnapped her and was making her find this music box. I enlisted the help of a friend, Alex Hunter, and we got the music box and gave it to Fowler so he would let Kate go. 

He provided us with a plane and new identities and I was about to board the plane when Peter showed up. He asked me why I didn’t say goodbye to him and I told him that he was the only one that could’ve changed my mind. I was heading for the plane when I stopped to contemplate what I should do and I turned around to say something to Peter that I don’t even remember anymore. Before I could get it out, the plane that Kate was on exploded. If Peter hadn’t have been there, I probably would have run into that plane to try and save her and I probably would’ve died.”

“Coop’, I’m so sorry. I wanted to say that when you first told me about her dying, but I was just so angry. You guys seemed so happy together.” Blaine said sorrowfully.

“Thanks, squirt.”

“Seriously. How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?” Blaine laughed.

Neal laughed and continued telling Blaine about what’s happened with him and Peter. “The second year I worked with him, I actually ended up going back to prison. I had used some… unconventional ways of recovering the music box and I paid the price for it. Peter ended up getting me out of prison again and I snuck around to try and get revenge on Fowler. I thought he had been the one to blow up the plane. 

“I worked with Alex again and we devised a plan to get Fowler out in the open and to get the target off of Alex’s back. Someone had found out she had helped with the music box. I eventually cornered Fowler in a room, but Peter found me. I’m glad he did though because I was about to kill Fowler. Fowler told me that Kate had made him promise to put the explosives of the plane and to put parachutes inside. She wanted us to fake our deaths so that we could have a fresh start.

“With the help of Mozzie, I found out that Vincent Adler, mine and Kate’s former employer, was behind her murder. He kidnapped Alex, Peter, and I and took us to the German U-Boat that he had been trying to find. Apparently, there was tons of German art in there and he wanted it. So, he made me and Peter go in and find it. The boat was laced with explosives and Alex’s grandfather had been the one to put them there. She figured out to disarm them and we found the treasure. When Adler entered, he had his men bind the three of us and he put us into a drylock. He gave his men orders to flood it and we just barely escaped. Diana, Jones, Mozzie, and Sara saved us.

“We managed to find Adler and I followed and cornered him. His men had loaded the treasure into a warehouse and were getting ready to move it. I confronted Adler and he admitted to killing Kate. Just then, the warehouse exploded. Adler was furious because he though I had done it and he was about to shoot me when Peter showed up and killed him.

“After I had left, Peter had found a piece of a painting that floated onto the floor that hadn’t burned all the way. It was one of mine. When I got back to my house, I found a key on my table that unlocked a warehouse. Mozzie had stolen the treasure and hidden it.”

“Wow, and are things like this usually this interesting? I mean, that is supposed to be your prison sentence.” Blaine retorted.

“Yeah, I mean, year three was even crazier. I had started dating Sara and Mozzie was making plans for us to go on the run. I was still on the fence about running because I did have a good life. I eventually found out that Peter suspected me of stealing the U-Boat treasure. Peter took the piece that he found to be tested to see if it was really from the 40’s and me and Moz had to replace it with a forgery.

“Diana had found a manifest of the items of the boat so if we sold any of the pieces that were on the manifest, Peter would’ve known that it hadn’t burned. Mozzie wasn’t convinced that there really was a manifest because Peter never technically showed me so I snuck into Peter’s house for it. I realized that we could sell whatever pieces weren’t on the manifest and we could’ve run, but I wasn’t ready to leave. So I lied to Mozzie and told him that it wasn’t there.

“I had an enemy, Matthew Keller, at this time. He tried to force me to give up the treasure, which I refused. Mozzie sold a Degas painting that was on the manifest and put a bounty on Keller’s head for that exact amount of money. I confronted Mozzie about it and told him that the Degas was on the manifest. Moz was furious with me for lying to him and he left.

“To get me to had over the treasure, Keller kidnapped Elizabeth. Peter blatantly asked me if I had to treasure and because it was Elizabeth’s life on the line, I told him yes. I even took him to the warehouse it was at. Because Mozzie was mad at me, he had moved the treasure somewhere else. I used his carrier pigeon, Estelle, to get ahold of him. Mozzie eventually came back and helped us save Elizabeth. 

“I eventually made up with both Mozzie and Peter. Peter had recently told me about having a communal hearing, meaning I could’ve been a free man. Peter’s mentor, Agent Kramer, had come to New York to screw up my hearing. Kramer found evidence that I had stolen a Raphael painting, so I went and got it from Ellen because I had given it to her for safe keeping. Peter covered for me and Sara helped as well. She was a little less willing because she had found out about my having the treasure and she broke up with me for it. She did help however and that ruined Kramer’s plan.

“Kramer was hell-bent on getting me back in prison, so he made up these bogus allegations of public endangerment and showed up at my commutation hearing to arrest me. Luckily, Peter was there and he warned me, giving me a signal to leave. So, I cut my anklet and hopped on a plane with Mozzie. Moz stopped in Detroit to gather some things while I came here. That was when I called Peter and he found me here, at your school. And you know the rest of the story.”

“That’s a lot to process.” Blaine simply said.

“I know. It’s been a lot to go through.” Neal replied.

“So how long are you able to stay? I get the fact that you’re on the run, so I know you can’t stay long.” Blaine hopefully asked.

“Not much longer. I can’t tell you where I’m going because I don’t want to make you have to lie to Peter. I will keep writing you if you’d like, without a return address of course..”

Blaine smiled, “I’d like that a lot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having Neal refer to "Year One" of working with Peter and having it actually be a basic summary of "Season One" was fun. Same with "Year Two"-"Season Two" and "Year Three"-"Season Three". It was hard to come up with how Blaine would react to this, so I hope it's not that crappy.


	18. The Drinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neal and Peter have a heart to heart before Neal and Mozzie have to leave.

Peter knew that Neal had to go on the run. He really didn’t want to see him go even though he knew he would find him eventually. That’s why Peter was so happy to see Neal show up at his hotel room. Peter heard the knock at the door and opened it. Neal was there holding up a six pack of beers for Peter and a bottle of wine for himself. Peter let him in.

“...And then, I told him I’d keep writing him. I said it would be without a return address though. I feel bad about leaving him again. He’s such a good kid.”

“I understand. You should know, while you were kidnapped, he was terrified for you. His boyfriend called me asking for information on you to try and calm him down. He really cares about you.” Peter said with a smile.

Neal was the next one to smile because he knew Blaine loved him, but he didn’t know he loved him that much. 

“So, where you headed from here?” Peter asked trying to get information out of him.

“Nice try, Peter. I have to leave. Even if you took me back now, Kramer could still steal me out from under your thumb. Neither of us want that.”

Peter sighed, “I know. I just don’t want to have to deal with trying to find you again.”

“Sure. That’s why.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Finding you is a difficult job.” Peter said with a raised eyebrow.

Neal laughed, “That’s kind of the point. You don’t want me to leave because you like working with me and you can’t deny it. That’s your problem. I steal and forge for the challenge and dealing with me is your challenge. Without me, everything is a bit easier. You can’t tell me I’m wrong.”

Peter was the next one to laugh. “I feel like it’s Kate and the plane all over again. You choosing whether to run and me trying to convince you to stay. You having second thoughts?”

Neal thought about this before he finally replied, “I start to, but then I remember you, Elizabeth, Diana, Jones, and Sara even. If I run, it’ll be easier on all of you. You think you don’t want Mozzie and I to leave, but if you thought about it, you would.”

Peter shook his head, indicating that Neal was wrong and took another drink of his beer. “Would Blaine want you to leave?”

Neal gave Peter his version of Peter’s stern look, “If it meant he wouldn’t be in danger, I’m sure of it.”

Peter raised his beer can and said, “To making peace with our decisions, good or bad.”

Neal raised his glass of wine and replied, “I’ll drink to that.”

They drank and reminisced into the late hours of the night. Everything from when Neal was Cooper Anderson to Kramer’s reign over Neal. Tomorrow morning would be a tough one for everyone involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having Neal show up with beers for Peter and a bottle of wine for himself was funny for me considering that episode, "Forging Bonds" where Peter shows up with the same thing for them.


	19. The Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neal and Mozzie have to head off and the whole gang meets up to see them off.

Everyone met up in the parking lot of McKinley High School to see Neal and Mozzie off. Kurt and Blaine arrived first because they had to head there for school. Neal and Mozzie were the second to arrive. Next, came Peter and Elizabeth. Finally, Diana and Jones arrived. Everyone exchanged hugs and well wishes. Neal grabbed Blaine’s arm and led him away from the group to talk privately.

“You’re not pissed at me for leaving right? I’d hate for us to go back to the way we were before. I’ve missed having my little brother as a friend.” Neal asked shyly.

Blaine laughed. “No. I know you have to do this. I just hope that once Peter finds you again, you come back and visit. You and I both know that he will eventually find you.”

“I hope so. I just hope Kramer finally gets over his issue with me.”

Both men started to head back to the group before Neal stops Blaine.

“You know, when you sang ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ with me, it was the best you ever sounded. I am tough on you. This week, maybe, a little tougher than I should've been, and I need to apologize for that. But it's only because I see-- I've always seen-- how insanely talented you are. I want you to be as successful as you can be, Blaine, and you will be. You're gonna do it all-- movies, concerts, Broadway.”

Blaine interrupts to say, “Even though it’s dead?”

Neal laughed, “You’ll resurrect it. And when I'm in the audience, watching you, I want to be able to say, ‘That's my kid brother up there. I helped him get there.’”

“Thanks for saying that, Coop. And I know you really mean it, too, because you weren't pointing your finger at me or speaking really loudly to be intense!” Blaine said referring to when Neal was pretending to be an actor and giving them fake acting tips. “You know, I was going to say ‘I was glad we got to sing one last time before you left to be Mr. Hollywood’, but I guess that isn’t gonna happen anymore is it?”

“Not at the moment. Maybe later. I could go for being an actor. Might be interesting.” Neal said jokingly.

“Anyway, I’m glad we got to sing together before you went on the run...again.”

“Me too, little brother.”

Neal and Blaine walked back to the group.

“You know, I will catch you again Neal.” Peter reminded.

“I’m betting on that.” Neal smirked.

Elizabeth walked over to Kurt and Blaine. “You two keep an eye on each other. You’re a very sweet couple and sweet people at that.” Elizabeth gave Kurt and Blaine each a hug and went to wait in the car.

Diana and Jones gave everyone another hug and headed off themselves.

Kurt and Blaine gave one more hug to everyone before they left and headed into school. They didn’t want to miss the early Glee Club meeting.

“Do me a favor, Peter? Keep an eye on them for me?” Neal asked once Kurt and Blaine were out of sight.

“Sure thing. You could always do that yourself and stay.”

Neal glared at Peter. To which Peter replied with putting his hands up in defeat.

“Neal, we’ve got to go.” Mozzie reminded before he climbed into their car.

Neal turned around and started to head towards the car when he heard a familiar quote leave Peter’s mouth.

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course on--”

“Where you stop the story. Orson Welles. Mozzie would be proud, Peter. Is this our happy ending?” Neal asked.

“I guess that depends on if this is the end of our story, but you and I both know, it’s not.”

Neal smiled and got in Mozzie’s car. They drove off and Peter stood and watched until they were out of sight. He climbed into the car with Elizabeth. “Don’t worry, hon. He’ll be back. If I know you as well as I think I do and you know I do, you’ll catch him and bring him back.”

“I know. I just hope nothing happens to them before that happens.”

“I know you do. Let’s head home. Satchmo’s probably losing his mind without us.”

With that, Peter and Elizabeth headed back to Manhattan to continue their search for the infamous Neal Caffrey once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this was a nice way to see the two of them off. It really did have a happy ending even though this obviously was not the ending considering the 3 more season of White Collar that take place after this story.


	20. The Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neal runs into a familiar face while heading out of the country with Mozzie

“You didn’t tell Blaine that we were going to Cape Verde, right?” Mozzie asked nervously.

“Of course not, Moz. I’m a conman, not an idiot.” Neal reprimanded.

“One suit might beg to differ. You didn’t tell him either, right?”

“Moz! Why are you nervous? We have perfectly forged IDs, a stash of treasure worth a fortune, and Peter is keeping the FBI off of us as best he can. We’re in the clear.”

“You never know! The suits have eyes everywhere! Big Brother is always watching!” Mozzie said paranoid.

Neal rolled his eyes at his friend. “Hold on, hold on.” Neal put his hand in front of Mozzie to stop him from continuing in further to the airport.

Mozzie stopped abruptly and hid behind Neal. “It’s the Feds! I thought you said the suit was keeping them off us! The suit lied to you, Neal!”

Neal rolled his eyes once again, “Calm down Moz. Kramer must’ve beefed up security at all of the exits out of the country. Follow my lead.” 

Neal ruffled his hair and blocked his face to slide past the security. He pumped into a woman to swipe her security badge and used it to get through the gate. Neal and Mozzie thought they were in the clear when they ran into a familiar face. 

“Sara. What are you doing here?” Neal said startled.

“Neal? I’m here for Sterling Bosch. A Degas painting was stolen. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that now would you?” Sara questioned.

“I’m reformed, remember?” Neal grinned.

“Oh, I know. Alleged criminal, right?”

Mozzie elbowed Neal signalling the fact that they needed to hurry.

Neal cleared his throat and Sara became suspicious. “Does Peter know you’re here?”

Neal shifted his gaze and Sara knew that Peter was unaware of his whereabouts. “You’re running aren’t you? I just testified at your commutation hearing for you to be a free man and now you’re running? Does Peter know about any of this?” Sara started to get nervous and shifted her gaze, just like Neal had done.

“That Peter does know about. Long story short because we have a limited amount of time, Agent Kramer was going to arrest me for a bunch of bogus charges and steal me out from under Peter’s thumb. I was about to arrive at my hearing and Peter gave me the signal to get out of there. So I did. I came down here to Westerville because my little brother--”

“Little brother? I thought you told me everything the night I found out about your hearing.” Sara interrupted. 

“I’ve never told anyone about my brother. Peter only found out about a week ago.” 

“Even Peter knows? Wait, you were in contact with Peter?”

“Like I said, long story. We have to get going, but I’ll explain at some point. Oh and Sara, can we pretend this never happened?” Neal pleaded.

Sara sighed in thought, “I guess you did get me my Raphael back. You swear I’ll get an explanation?”

“I swear.”

“Fine. Get out of here. I’ll stall the security. Don’t make me regret this, Neal.”

“Sara, I promise. You won’t regret it. Let’s go, Moz.” Neal nudged Mozzie and they headed off.

“No names, Neal! Oh, wait.” 

Neal laughed and they headed out of the country with help from Sara. Before they turned the corner, Neal looked back to Sara and could just barely make out the words she mouthed. “Be careful, Neal.” 

Neal waved and smiled his signature weak-at-the-knees smile, put his hat on, and turned the corner. He was heading to Cape Verde, not as Neal Caffrey, but as someone brand new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew I wanted Sara in this story at some point, but could never really fit her in except for some references so this was a nice change.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've been thinking about this scenario ever since I watched Matt Bomer's character on Glee and since I started watching White Collar. I have finally decided to begin this story and to share it with others. Hopefully, some people enjoy it.


End file.
